Alkermes, Epix slump; Sun active

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Alkermes and Epix Medical slipped in Tuesday's after-hours session, while Sun Microsystems continued to garner the most attention in extended trading.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 After Hours Indicator, which tracks the evening action of the index's leading stocks, trickled nominally lower to 1,468.

In the last hour of trading before the closing bell, markets shook off the early June gloom brought on by all-time highs in oil prices to finish in the green. See Market Snapshot.

The Nasdaq Composite Index
$COMPQ
turned up 4 points to end at 1,991, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.67%
closed up 14 points at 10,203.

Drugs dip

Alkermes shares
ALKS, -2.41%
slumped by more than 3 percent to $14.20 in after-hours trading. The pharmaceutical maker said that, along with Genentech
DNA, +0.95%
it is abandoning the commercialization of Nutropin Depot, a treatment for growth hormone deficiency in children.

Alkermes, however, stood by its pro-forma loss target, explaining that lower revenue will be offset by trimmed expenses.

Revenue for 2005 is pegged to come in between $90 million and $120 million, down from the range of $95 million and $125 million.

Separately, shares of Epix Medical
EPIX, -8.55%
shed more than 6 percent to $23.75 after the drugmaker announced a convertible senior debt sale of up to $75 million.

VCA Antech updates

VCA Antech
WOOF
raised its 2004 earnings outlook following the completion of its merger with National PetCare and the refinancing of the company's debt.

The veterinary hospital and laboratory network said it now sees 2004 earnings between $1.44 and $1.45 per share vs. a prior forecast of $1.43 to $1.44 per share. The Thomson First Call average estimate is for earnings of $1.44 per share. The company expects 2004 sales to come in between $636 million and $648 million.

For the second quarter, VCA maintained its forecast of 42 cents to 43 cents a share, including the effect of costs related to its merger with National PetCare. The company expects revenue to total $160.8 million to $163.8 million.

Shares were down just slightly after hours at $44.10.

Techs in the spotlight

Sun Microsystems
SUNW, +3.92%
up only fractionally, took the top spot on Instinet's most active list and should remain in focus overnight, as executives unveil products and services aimed at new business models of computing. See full story.

Also after the bell, Sun and Japan's Fujitsu Limited said they would jointly develop future versions of the Solaris operating system and Sparc servers. Join the "SUNW" discussion.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.